The term "Actions" varies depending on the application. In Copilot Studio, it serves as a flexible tool for agents. By combining Copilot prompts and conversations, triggers (such as file modifications or scheduled reminders), and user-defined rules, Copilot Actions can generate artifacts that streamline workflows. A similar type of action is teased in the "lightweight" version of Copilot Studio within the M365 agent builder (marked as "coming soon").
The version discussed here is a new out-of-the-box functionality, designed to ensure that even users with minimal technical expertise can benefit from its powerful asynchronous capabilities.
To utilize Copilot Actions, users must have a Copilot license (priced at $30). The help article "Set up actions in Copilot to automate daily tasks" on Microsoft Support is a valuable resource for this purpose. The feature is already available in our production tenant, indicating that the rollout has begun.
I hope this feature continues to develop. Currently, it seems you can only run predefined tasks with limited adjustments to the queries. However, users can be taught to build their own agents and use triggers in Power Automate to initiate these agents.